Thor and I have decided to read the list. Although there is no way either of us is committing to actually reading everything all the way through. I read a bit of Wicked, and that counts, because ugh. I hated that damn book.
1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien Okay. Not starting with this one. I suppose watching the movies don't count.
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams Really like the new Dr Who on BBC. Again, doesn't count.
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card I haven't read this one?
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert 8 million pages long, set in a desert...I lived this, why do I have to read about it. (Of course, these are just my impressions/opinions/random and illogical thoughts. Not meant to have any resemblance to reality. Or, as Jon Kyl would say, "not meant to be a factual statement.")
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin eh. Seems bulky.
6. 1984, by George Orwell Read this in college, in high school, lived through the Bush administration.
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury I have come around to the belief that while banning books is wrong, there is nothing wrong with throwing away the crappy ones. Not that this is a crappy one. I bought it a while ago, haven't gotten around to re-reading it yet.
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov adore Asimov. Have read tons o' his stuff. Including the Foundation books. But looking forward to reading them again.
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley been in my "to be read" pile for months now.
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman Oh, my gosh. Best book, most amazing ideas, concepts. Loved loved loved this book.
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman "I don't think that means what you think it means."
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan I have read four of these. Or five. Or three. Nobody EVER dies. That is not realistic, even for a fantasy novel.
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell Fascism on the farm. Woo. (so it's totalilatarianism. Sue me. Which you can do, because at least there we are still a free country.)
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
A seminal work in the genre that would come to be known as cyberpunk.huh. Sounds interesting.
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore a graphic novel. Cool. I like graphic novels and manga.
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov see #8. I have read this more than once. Will read it again.
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein one of those books one is sure one has read, but one doesn't necessarily remember the readin'.
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss My children will love this. There are a bunch of their books on this list. Books I have now committed myself to reading. Whoops.
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut I read Vonnegut when I was younger. Now for some reason I just feel like it would be too depressing.
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley Read it several times. Holy crap, Shelley was wordy.
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick Read Phillip K Dick a lot in high school. Really like it. Hated Blade Runner -- the Harrison Ford movie based on the book -- the first couple times I saw it, then I liked it.
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood Feels like one of those books I should have read.
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King I really really like some of King's stuff. Have avoided this one, though I am unsure why. Guess I will have to give in now.
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke I dunno. I read a lot of stuff as a teenager, might have read this one. Will have to read it again to be sure.
25. The Stand, by Stephen King I remember the mini series, pretty sure I read the book, but have been wanting to read it anyway. And watch it on Netflix.
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
Weaving contemporary imagery with Sumerian myths,I really like new stuff, and I don't off the top of my head know what the hell Sumerian myths are, so cool.
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury Another blast from the past. Adding it to my TBR pile. (to be read.)
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut Have read this one.
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman 75 comic books. Luckily collected into ten trade volumes.
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess Haven't read it, really don't want to, but will try it at least. sigh.
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein ??? Was this a really good movie or a terrible one?
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams Rabbits!!! Read this one more than once as a kid.
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey The Dragonriders of Pern. Have read everything repeatedly, some copies till they practically disintegrated, have multiple copies in my bookcase now. Or would, if I had unpacked them already.
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein I am pretty sure I have read some Heinlein, just don't know which.
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Always a sucker for a good tale with monks.
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells Classic. Will read again.
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne Deranged submarine captain.
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys Never read. The title doesn't sound very sci-fi, it always seemed like it should be some sort of WWII novel, a coming of age and depressing as hell, novel to me.
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells Read it, watched several movies, used to listen to the rebroadcast on radio on Halloween. Classic's classic.
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny Zelazny is weird, but awesome. Abe ate the second book in the series, took me a while to find the right edition to replace it.
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings a mystical orb, in five volumes. Not particularly appealing cover art (if you follow the link, you see a synopsis and cover of each book.) This one is falling to the bottom of the TBR.
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley Love MZB, love her Darkover novels, have read Mists once or twice.
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson Curious about this one, because it seems so run of the mill. But NPR listeners love it. We will see.
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven Good book. Looking forward to reading it again.
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin For whatever reason, LeGuin has always struck me as rather froufrou. I guess I will find out if I am right.
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
These creation myths of Tolkien's Middle-earth, for those who found The Lord of the Rings too breezy and slightCan I get a woo?
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White The first book, when Arthur was a young man, was very good -- at least I remember it that way, it has been many years since I have read it -- and Disney's The Sword in the Stone is based on it. Camelot is based on the last two books.
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman I believe this is the Gaiman book I found on a plane, so I have it on my Kindle and in the bookcase. If my books were in a bookcase.
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke Is this a book I have read, or one of those that everyone is supposed to read so eventually you think you might have read it?
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan Should have read this one, if I haven't. "Billions and billions." I miss Carl Sagan.
So. The rest of the list tomorrow.
"Flowers for Algernon" was the basis for the movie "Charly", starring Cliff Robertson, released in 1968. It was, and continues to be, a very controversial book - it is often challenged in libraries, with an eye toward removal. It seems there are still those who have appointed themselves guardians of the public good and/or morals, who think we're all too stupid to be allowed to read something so ... controversial. It is a book well worth the read - a movie well worth the watching - an idea well worth the thought.
ReplyDeleteOh. Hi! Glad to see you back here. xoxoxox
ReplyDelete